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[[image:Sbc2009.jpg|right|thumb|The image is a portion of the fractal Mandelbrot set, created by  [http://www.flickr.com/people/-marlith-/ Kevin Wong] ([http://www.flickr.com/photos/-marlith-/2437198527/ source]); [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en Creative Commons License], used with permission. Please use this image in your own blog to publicize the 2009 Science-Book Challenge.]] <center><b>Read a book for science literacy!<br>Join the challenge any time in 2009.</b></center>

The Science-Book Challenge is easy: read three science books in 2009, then tell others about the books you've read and help spread science literacy.

Reading about science--by which we mean to include engineering, mathematics, and technology, too--is fun '''and''' rewarding. We encourage others to read about science, and help potential readers find books that they will enjoy and profit from reading, by publishing our [[:Category:Book Notes|Book Notes]], which are written by Ars Hermeneutica employees, volunteers, friends, and science-book challengers.

We're looking for science-book readers to help us help would-be science-book readers by sharing their own opinions about the science books they've read.

===The 2009 Science-Book Challenge===

# Read at least three nonfiction books in 2009 related somehow to the theme "Nature's Wonders". Your books should have something to do with science, scientists, how science operates, or science's relationship with its surrounding culture.  Your books might be popularizations of science, they might be histories, they might be biographies, they might be anthologies; they can be recent titles or older books. We take a very broad view of what makes for interesting and informative science reading.
# After you've read a book, write a short note about it, giving your opinion of the book. What goes in the note? The things you would tell a friend if you wanted to convince your friend to read it--or avoid it. Naturally, you can read some of the existing [[:Category:Book Notes|Book Notes]] for ideas. You might like to read our [[Book-note ratings]] for ideas about how to evaluate your books.
# Don't worry if you find that you've read a book someone else has also read; we welcome multiple notes on one title.
# Get your book note to us and we'll post it with the other notes in our Book Note section. Use the [[Special:BooknoteForm | book-note form]] or the [[Special:CommentForm | comment form]] to get in touch with us.
# Tell other people about the Science-Book Challenge: [http://ArsHermeneutica.org/besieged/Science-Book_Challenge_2009 http://ArsHermeneutica.org/besieged/Science-Book_Challenge_2009].

Stuck for ideas about what books to read? [[Special:CommentForm | Write to us]] and we'll help you identify some books that will match your interests.

If you'd like to sign up and make your participation in the Science-Book Challenge public, send us your name and a link to your blog, if you have one, using our [[Special:CommentForm | comment form]]. 

Please help us tell others, too! Use your own blog to spread the word; use our Science-Book Challenge 2009 graphic to make it pretty.

Happy reading!

===The Science-Book Challengers===

Everyone should feel free to accept the challenge any time before the end of 2009. Decide on your book list at the beginning or be more spontaneous and choose titles as you go. Let us know that you're taking the challenge and we'll put your name here with other challengers, along with updates about your notes as you contribute them. You can use the handy [[Special:CommentForm | comment form]] to reach us. You might find it interesting to look at last year's list of challengers in the [[Science-Book Challenge 2008]].

Here are the people we are aware of who have accepted the Science-Book Challenge 2009. 

{| border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|-
! valign="top" align="left"   | Challenger 
! valign="top" align="left"   | Link
! valign="top" align="left"   | Titles & Links to Book Notes
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Melanie K.  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://indextrious.blogspot.com/ The Indextrious Reader]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Jenny S.  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Callista  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://smsbookreviews.blogspot.com SMS Book Reviews]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Lynda  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://lyndasbookblog.blogspot.com/ Lynda's Book Blog]
| valign="top" align="left"   | tentatively:<br>''Do Polar Bears Get Lonely? : And 101 Other Intriguing Science Questions'', by Mick O'Hare<br>''A Short History of Nearly Everything'', by Bill Bryson<br>''How to Dunk a Doughnut : The Science Of Everyday Life'', by Len Fisher
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Violette Severin  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://themysterybookshelf.blogspot.com/ The Mystery Bookshelf]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Lisa Clayton  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Lindy  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Jody  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://yearofreaders.blogspot.com The Year of Readers]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Eva  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://astripedarmchair.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/science-book-challenge-09 A Striped Armchair]
| valign="top" align="left"   | (Visit her blog for an extensive list of possible titles!)
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Brandi  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://thereadingchallenges.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/science-book-challenge-2009/ The Reading Challenges Blog]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Melanie
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://tigermel.blogspot.com/ Cynical Optimism]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Care  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://bkclubcare.wordpress.com/ Care’s Online Book Club]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Kristi  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2008/12/science-book-challenge.html Books and Needlepoint]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Pussreboots  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2008/12.html#science Puss Reboots]
| valign="top" align="left"   | ''Dr. Joe and What You Didn't Know'' by Dr. Joe Schwarcz<br>''Hawaiian Insects and their Kin'', by F. G. Howarth and W. P. Mull<br>''Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded'', by Simon Winchester<br>''Mars, the Red Planet'', by Isaac Asimov<br>''Roadside Geology of Hawaii'', by Richard W. Hazlett and Donald W. Hyndman<br>''The Blind Watchmaker'', by Richard Dawkins<br>''The Borderlands of Science: Where Sense Meets Nonsense'', by Michael Shermerer<br>''The Voyage of the Beagle'' by Charles Darwin
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Joanna  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://lostinagoodstory.blogspot.com/2008/12/science-book-challenge-2009.html It's all about me]
| valign="top" align="left"   | ''The Story of God'', by Robert Winston <br> ''The Force'', by Lynne McTaggart <br> ''God and the New Physics'', by Paul Davies <br> ''Elephants on Acid and Other Bizarre Experiments'', by Alex Boese <br> ''Your Inner Fish: The Amazing Discovery of Our 375-Million-Year-Old Ancestor'', by Neil Shubin <br> ''What the Bleep do we Know?'', by William Arntz and Betsy Chasse <br>''The Quirks & Quarks Guide to Space : 42 Questions (and Answers) about Life, the Universe, and Everything'', by Jim Lebans
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Debi  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://dastevenslists.blogspot.com/2008/12/science-book-challenge.html Reading Challenge Obsessed...]
| valign="top" align="left"   | (Visit her blog for an extensive list of possible titles!)
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Jessi  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://casual-dread.blogspot.com/2008/12/2009-science-book-challenge.html Casual Dread]
| valign="top" align="left"   | Tentative list:<br>''Misquoting Jesus'', by Bart D. Ehrman<br>''The Omnivore's Dilemma'', by Michael Pollan<br>''The Edge of the Sea'', by Rachel Carson
|-bgcolor="#ffffff
| valign="top" align="left"   | Rebecca  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://reviews.rebeccareid.com/present-and-future-challenges-2009-1st-quarter/ Rebecca Reads]
| valign="top" align="left"   | Some possibilities:<br>''DNA'', by James Watson<br>''Cosmos'', by Carl Sagan<br>''Napoleon’s Buttons'', by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson<br>''Proust Was a Neuroscientist'', by Jonah Lehrer<br>''The Ancestor’s Tale'', by Richard Dawkins<br>''God’s Equation'', by Amir Azcel<br>''A Brief History of Time'', by Stephen Hawking.
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Judy D.  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://intergalacticbookworm.blogspot.com Intergalactic Bookworm]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | raidergirl3  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://raidergirl3-anadventureinreading.blogspot.com/ an adventure in reading]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | T. Robertson  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | ''The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Apirituality'', by Dalai Lama<br>''Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales'', by William Bass<br>''What Science Offers the Humanities: Integrating Body and Culture'', by Edward Slingerland<br>''Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique'', by Michael S. Gazzaniga
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Rich  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://dickostevens.blogspot.com/2008/12/science-challenge-made-for-me.html Dick-o's Deep Thoughts]
| valign="top" align="left"   | Possibles:<br>''Bones of Contention'', by Paul Chambers<br>''The Red Queen'', by Matt Ridley<br>''Life of Insects'', by Vincent Wigglesworth<br>''The Pleasures of Entomology'', by Howard Evans<br>Any one of the wonderful books by Stephen Jay Gould, especially ''Wonderful Life''<br>''Biology of the Amphibia'', by Gladwyn Noble
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | EHL  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Adrienne  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://titlesareirrelevant.blogspot.com/2009/01/blog-post.html Titles are Irrelevant]
| valign="top" align="left"   | planned:<br>''Monster of God'', by David Quammen<br>''Alex & Me'', by Irene Pepperberg<br>''Parasite Rex'', by Carl Zimmer
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | R. Williams  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=46932545543 facebook challenger]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | S. Poduska  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=46932545543 facebook challenger]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | C. Howard  
| valign="top" align="left"   |[http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=46932545543 facebook challenger]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | J.P. Howard  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=46932545543 facebook challenger]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | J. Dorrance  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=46932545543 facebook challenger]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | T. Wilson  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=46932545543 facebook challenger]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | B. Kane  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=46932545543 facebook challenger]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | D. Robertson  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=46932545543 facebook challenger]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Chile  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://chilechews.blogspot.com/ Chile Chews]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Jen R.  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://www.aaron-n-jen.com/ Living Life Simply]
| valign="top" align="left"   | tentatively:<br>''Blue Frontier'', by David Helvarg<br>''The Earth Moved'', by Amy Stewart<br>''Bottomfeeder'', by Taras Grescoe
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Joyce  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://tallgrassworship.blogspot.com/ tallgrassworship]
| valign="top" align="left"   | ''Watermania'', by Eliazbeth Royte<br>''This is Your Brain on Music, The Science of a Human Obsession'', by Daniel Levitin<br>''The End of Food'', by Paul Roberts
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Matheus  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://secondistherest.blogspot.com/ Second is the Rest]
| valign="top" align="left"   | possibles:<br>''Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!'' by Richard Feynman<br>''The Linguistics Wars'', by Randy Allen Harris<br>''Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology'', by Daniel Dennett<br>''On Nature and Language'', by Noam Chomsky<br>''Language and Mind'', by Noam Chomsky<br>''The Empirical Stance'', by Bas van Fraassen<br>''Pursuit of Truth'', by W. V. Quine<br>''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'', by Thomas Kuhn
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | &nbsp;  
| valign="top" align="left"   | &nbsp;
| valign="top" align="left"   | &nbsp;
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | RRT  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | SJB  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | JNS
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://bearcastle.com/blog Bearcastle Blog]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous